Help! My neck hurts

Many people visit the hospital with a complaint of neck pain and a significant number may also present with other conditions such as numbness or pain in the arm that may eventually be traced to the neck. It is difficult to “hide” neck pain; your posture will almost certainly betray you.

Neck pain is often the result of poor body mechanics; whether seated or lying down. If you sit at a desk with your computer in the wrong position, you will pay the price sooner than later. If you enjoy watching television in the couch with your head resting on the armrest expect a stiff neck the next morning or quite soon after. I agree it may feel good to watch TV in that position but have you imagined the angle and strain you put your neck through? Pavlov will be very disappointed with humans; we don’t seem to learn from past experiences in some situations and wrong-neck positioning is one of them. It does not seem to matter to us that we always wake up with a painful stiff neck. As we age there is a loss in flexibility of the neck, we may also develop arthritis (wear and tear variety) of the neck bones or disc problems. Sometimes we totally forget our cars are fitted with mirrors for driving to help ease the strain on our necks. I am sure you are either a culprit or you have seen people turn their neck through almost 180 degrees rotation while reversing. I almost forgot this; we sometimes lie down with our head propped up high on pillows and hope that our neck will thank us for keeping it in high places. Beware!

Do not always expect your doctor o request an X-ray or other form of diagnostic scan when you present with neck pain. Many times a conservative approach of exercises and improved body mechanics along with heat packs and topical analgesics (gels etc) and some medication may work the magic.

AVOID

• Head Circles: the neck is no toy and neither is it robust. Many people as part of their exercise programme do head circles which are moving your head and neck in a circular manner on a fixed shoulder. Avoid this; it has no benefits even if you have a perfect neck.

• Do not hyperextend your neck; not only may you aggravate your neck problem, you may put pressure on a nerve or put undue pressure on a vessel that supplies blood to the brain. I am sure you can guess what happens when you reduce blood supply to the brain in the process. We often may find ourselves sitting with head too far forward; re-arrange your office desk.

• Never ever do any fast or jerky neck movements

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Always talk to your health professional before doing anything to your neck

• Start very, very slowly

• Avoid massaging your neck especially when it is being done by a non-professional

• When sitting, periodically sit up straight and MAKE SURE you get up after an hour to walk around. This should be a brief walk lasting about a minute. It is no time to loiter and this is no excuse not to work.

• If you have to do gentle range of motion of your neck, you may do this with warm moist towels around your neck or in a shower with warm water running. The warmth not only relaxes the muscles, it is also soothing.

o Turn your head to look at your left shoulder tip and count to ten. Repeat on the other side and count to ten. You may repeat several times in the day.

o Head Tilts – tilt head from left to right.

o Look up and down just like you will attempt to look at the top of a high rise building and then switch to look at its base.

o Pull shoulder blades together and hold then repeat.

o Shrug shoulder (pull shoulders towards ear) and make circles backwards.

Take care of your neck, you only have one.

AS ALWAYS LAUGH OFTEN, WALK AND PRAY EVERYDAY AND REMEMBER IT’S A PRICELESS GIFT TO KNOW YOUR NUMBERS (blood sugar, blood pressure, blood cholesterol, BMI)

Dr. Kojo Cobba Essel

Moms’ Health Club

(dressel@healthclubsgh.com)

*Dr Essel is a medical doctor and is ISSA certified in exercise therapy and fitness nutrition.

Thought for the week – “imagine your food as part of your body, and let that inform your choices. Do you want to be built of and powered by junk food?”

Reference:

1. Fitness Therapy. 3rd Edition. Dr. Karl Knopf